Eyewitness to the London riots - it’s all about class | Workers Solidarity Movement
►http://www.wsm.ie/c/eyewitness-london-riots-class-race-2011
Eyewitness to the London riots - it’s all about class
Workers Solidarity interviewed Hackney local and education worker, Alex Carver, about the roots of the London riots. Alex is a long standing activist in the IWW union, housing struggles in the East End, and the big left events since the start of the recession, most recently the M26 Militant Workers Block and the J30 Strike project. He was a direct witness to the rioting on Monday. Here he tells Workers Solidarity why he thinks that the riots are best understood by loooking at class rather than race.
What do you see as the main reasons people are rioting? The left, at least, is identifying racism as a major cause.
I feel quite strongly on this. It is not about race, and it’s not about the shooting either. Those are only elements in an overall economic situation. Up and down the country a racial mix of youth have been taking advantage of the chaos - together. I saw this mix personally, but you can see it on the news and internet too. People are looting because they want things. That’s economic and social, that’s not some kind of misguided protest at police racism.